Monday, December 3, 2012

Dr Samantha Owens has left her old life -- her job at Forensic Medical, her best friend Taylor Jackson, the home she shared with her late husband and their twins -- behind. She's sols her Nashville home, has a new job teaching and somewhere very new, and different to call home every night

Sam's ready to try to move on from the crushing grief -- and guilt -- she feels after losing her husband and young children in the Nashville flood. Also a part of her new life in Washington DC: Xander Whitfield, whom she met in A Deeper Darkness and who was a catalyst for her move.

Sam's just getting into her new life when an unknown pathogen is released in the Washington Metro. Soon three people are dead and Sam is called in to consult.

With the FBI and Homeland Security a part of the case, it's Sam, Xander and Fletcher who are soon uncovering parts of the case that make it a very interesting one indeed. And definitely not what they expected.

After reading the Taylor Jackson series and already knowing Sam, I was really hurting for her in A Deeper Darkness and all of the pain she was in, still feeling so much guilt and sorrow over losing not only her husband but also both of her children. So soon after losing another child, as well.

Though I was a bit sorry knowing she wouldn't be back in Nashville for this second installment in the series, after reading it, I couldn't support the decision more fully.

The things I loved in the first book about Sam having her own series: getting to see her sine, seeing those attributes of hers (her whit, her intelligence, her love and loyalty) as the main focus were even stronger in this book. Now that we've been properly introduced to Sam with the first book, we really get to see her work and be a great character.

Both Xander and Fletch are back in pretty big supporting roles, the two other main characters next to Sam, in Edge of Black. I loved them both in A Deeper Darkness and I love them here. Nocek is back as well and just as quirky as before, I'm glad he's still a part of the story.

It's only two books in but I think I like this series even better than the Taylor Jackson series. The characters here each have their own great background which we didn't get as much of with the previous series and I do love my 'character' books. We also get a good bit of Xander's life in this series and it's fun to see where he comes from and know who he is. Then to see how he works with and connects with Sam. On the surface they seem like they'd be contradictory characters, but they have something that really does work.

That's all on top of the great plots that Ellison has created. They're not your run of the mill mystery or thriller plots and even the ones that seem to start more simple or predictable definitely don't play out that way. That the characters backgrounds as well as the setting are used is even better.

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